Supporting AI-Based Innovations: Revealing the Interplay between Framing and Innovation Process Formalization

While the potentials of AI are widely acknowledged, it remains unclear how framing shapes the support for AI-based innovations, and how it interrelates with innovation process formalization. Drawing on 53 interviews, onsite observations, and archival data in three cases, we reveal that managers use ‘grounding in the business’ and ‘calling on aspirations’ to ‘mobilize support’ for investment decisions on AI-based innovations. We further find that innovation process formalization strengthens framing focused on achieving alignment of AI with business processes. Vice versa, framing addressing managers’ aspirations flexibilizes the innovation process, which is crucial for building trust in AI. The absence of process formalization however leads to unstructured framing of AI-based innovations ultimately undermining support. This study extends our understanding of how managers can successfully cope with the challenges of AI-based innovations, reveals how different framing behaviors shape the support for AI-based innovations, and how these behaviors interact with innovation process formalization.